I put too much fine ballast on 10 feet of curved track (haste makes waste). Need ideas on how to remove it but only near the rails. I’m concerned about flanges and ballast on the sides of rails. It’s glued very well, 50:50 mix but rock hard.
I could pick away at it for hours or use a rotary wire brush. Worried about damaging the Atlas flex track with high RPMs. Any solvent for matte medium, or other ideas?
If you had used white glue instead of matte medium, you could try re-soaking the ballast to loosen it, and then rub it off with a fingertip or something. I have never used matte medium so I don’t know if re-soaking with work with it.
What I would do is get a wire brush and try brushing any excess ballast off. But you didn’t use elmers glue so I don’t know how hard the glue is you’ve used once it’s set.
James
Terry, I thought matte medium was water based. If so would you be able to soak it with soap and water for clean up?
matte medium can be removed/softened using alcohol, (and no dont waste a bottle of Bud pouring it over your trackwork)
Hope this helps,
Karl.
If you live in Texas, you could use Pearl or Lone Star. Ain’t enough beer in that stuff to worry about wasting. [:)]
Try using a Q-Tip to rub it off the inside of the rails once you’ve softened it. They shred pretty easily so you’ll use a lot of them, but they’re cheap. For stubborn bits, try cutting the end off a Q-Tip and using the end of the stick to dig at it. The stick is firm enough to do some digging but soft enough not to do much damage. I’ve found a lot of uses for Q-Tips around the layout and keep a container of them handy.
If you used matte-medium, it’s as hard as a rock by now and twice as hard to remove. I did the same thing ONCE! I’ve never heard the alcohol thing before. Gotta try that sometime. I used my Dremel tool with a reinforced cutoff wheel to remove the ballast near the rails. This took several hours during which time I came up with some new words and definitions for Webster’s dictionary, mostly relating to myself and my stupidity. I only lost 1 peice of track (there were 14 in all) to this method. I use Bachmann’s nickel silver EZ track, so the sections are only 9 inches. If yours is flex track, you’re in for a long haul! Try the alcohol trick first. GOOD LUCK!
Jeffrey Wimberly, Leesville, La.
I’m out of my mind, but leave a message anyway.
[soapbox]
Thanks for the ideas. I hope the alcohol works (I’ve got some 90% isopropyl somewhere but will 70% first). Before ballasting my main goal was to use as little fine ballast as possible. And I used an eyedropper.
this turned out OK:
…but this did not:
Hope newcomers learn from my mistake. I now appreciate good ballasting more.
After I put the ballast in place, and before I glue it, I tap the rails with the handle of a 1-2" paintbrush. The vibration alone is enough to shake any little bits of ballast off the ties and away from the rail web. And I only use diluted white glue. A spray bottle with water in it corrects any mistakes.